A Memory of July 9 - 2003-06-04

A memory of July 9 - 2003-06-04. Please, I am a 21-year-old youth and I want to write about July 9 of last year. I was present at the protest site from 3:30 PM on July 9, 1381 (July 9, 2002). At that time, there was still no noise, and people were just moving back and forth in the streets. Some were standing in front of the university (across the street) waiting for the protest to start. I was also standing in front of a kiosk reading the Kayhan and Ettelaat newspapers. Neither of them had written anything about July 9, but the Hayat-e-No newspaper had mentioned a few things. Around 5:30 PM, the voices of the people rose. 'Oh Iran, oh precious border, oh your soil is the source of art.' A kind of pride filled me as we stomped our feet on the sidewalk and sang this national anthem. Suddenly, a Hezbollah brother changed the tune of the song and shouted, 'Don’t let him take it up, go and catch him.' When I turned around, I saw two people holding a yellow flag, and one was filming. The filmmaker ran away, and the people cheered him on, but the two were beaten up and taken away in a car. This was my first time participating in a protest. When I saw a Basij member insulting an old woman, and people were looking at him, I got really angry and wanted to slap him. I forced myself to control my anger. The old woman said, 'We ruined it ourselves; we will fix it ourselves.' It was an interesting slogan. On the other side of the street, the police were directing people; General Talayi was inviting people to calm down through a loudspeaker, but no one was listening. The riot police, who didn’t know a word of Persian, were all Arabs and Afghans. An old woman shouted, 'Don’t hit the kids,' and someone shouted back, 'These are not even Iranians.' I was confused and heated. At that moment, I saw a young man with a bloody face raising his hand, blood dripping from it. I involuntarily remembered a young man that Iranian television used to broadcast every year during the Fajr decade (the decade of blood). What a resemblance! At 9 PM, it was dark in Vali Asr. Due to its slope, Vali Asr could be seen all the way down the street, and as far as the eye could see, there were freedom-seeking people of Iran. The slogans were: 'Nation, why are you sitting? Iran has become Palestine' - 'Freedom of thought cannot be achieved with beards and hair' - 'Khamenei, have some shame, abandon the monarchy' and so on. Because of the traffic, I got off at Ferdowsi Square and walked to Imam Hossein Square. A group heading towards Imam Hossein Square was shouting, 'The tanks and Basij no longer have an effect.' I joined the group and shouted slogans. While we were chanting, the Revolutionary Guards attacked us from behind, and we all ran in different directions. I lost one of my shoes during that protest and walked to Afshariyeh with one shoe. Thank you for reading these notes. I kindly request those who read this on the site to: A- Send this to those they know. B- Actively participate in this year's protests and not just be spectators.